Oh my god. I am like the queen of story-update-FAIL. You probably hate me, and I don't really blame you. I have to say though, my National Treasure muse wandered very violently off-course, and (as you can probably see from my new stories) an Angels & Demons muse took its place. However, I finally managed to make them both coexist, so I wrote this update! I actually had a chapter started back in May, but I switched to a new computer and forgot to save the file, so I had to start over from scratch. That too has something to do with it, though it's more my perpetual distractedness and laziness that has kept me from updating…
Well, you've probably heard enough of my chatter! You're probably all anxiously waiting to meet our new little character, so read on! And I'm sorry again for any trouble my not updating might have caused!
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Kathleen
Nicole and I just sort of stared at each other for a very long minute, both of us probably looking absolutely horrified. We finally snapped out of it when Nicole started shouting at the top of her lungs.
"Wha-What do you mean your water broke?!? What does that mean?!?"
"You know what that means!" I shouted back, probably the most scared I'd ever been in my entire life.
"What do we do?!"
"I… I don't know! But we have to do something!" I groaned a bit. "Why in the name of all things holy did this have to happen now?!"
"Because apparently that little thing has its father's sense of timing, which is horrible!" Nicole answered in a panic. "Um, do you have stuff to bring?"
"Yeah, it's in the closet." I breathed as the wave of pain and panic started subside a bit. I held onto my huge belly, straightening up my back as Nicole rushed over to the closet, letting out a little shout of shock and surprise. I'd nearly forgotten that our closet looked more like a disaster area than a place for keeping clothes. I could hear her murmuring to herself, digging around for my suitcase. "It's a blue bag," I said, attempting to help her out a bit. Finally, she emerged from the closet with wide eyes and a blue suitcase in her hands.
"If you're my friend, you'll never make me go in there again."
I gave a little bit of a laugh that didn't really sound happy at all. "Let's hope you won't, or at least not for the same purpose as this time."
She nodded vigorously, still looking a bit frightened. "Let's go then, do you need any help?"
"I can manage," I shook my head, exhaled and started half-shuffling, half waddling towards the door. She grabbed onto me anyway, holding me steady, which I was thankful for, because I most likely would've tripped over my own feet. We walked in silence for a minute until I looked at her. "Um, I'm sorry…"
"Why?" She raised an eyebrow at me, shrugging. "It's not like it's really your fault." Then she paused. "Not entirely, anyway."
We both sort of smiled awkwardly at each other, and she helped me into the back seat of her car (because there was absolutely no way in hell that I would even fit in the front anymore). I could feel another contraction on its way, so I quickly spoke up.
"I just want you to know that you should disregard anything I say in the next few hours."
She laughed a little bit and nodded while starting up her car the fastest I'd ever seen. "Just blame Riley and everything will be fine."
---
By the time we got to the hospital, got me a room, changed my clothes and got me hooked up to every necessary machine, Nicole had tried Riley's cell phone five times and gotten no answer. I pretty much assumed he had it charging in his car, like usual (of all times, Riley, of all times to be charging your freaking phone…) Her messages became more direct and more angry as they went on, so much so that almost every other word was a curse word by the last one. Of course, what else did I expect? And I suppose my screaming in the background added a nice touch.
Two hours passed, and not much seemed to happen. Of course, I was pretty much in agony, but at least Nicole was there to help me, or I would've slowly but surely gone mad. She was usually encouraging me to take my anger out on Riley, but I decided to store it for whenever he actually decided to show up. Oh, when that time came the man was going to get an earful…
I tried to eat, but I started having contractions again which pretty much made me lose my appetite. So I was in pain, out of touch with the world around me, and I was hungry. Nicole ate at least, but she looked kind of worried as me made it into our third hour.
"What the hell is taking them so long?" She asked, sounding extremely irritated now. "How long is this stupid thing they're at supposed to last?"
"Ben's speech probably lasted two hours itself." I mumbled, sighing, moving onto my side to look at her, still mumbling. "This really sucks."
"I've noticed." She mused, and I gave her a sort of glare. She smiled apologetically. "Oh, I'm sorry. I know it sucks. But it'll be over eventually, right?"
"God, I hope so." I groaned, rolling back over onto my back as my head fell into the pillows behind me. "I really really hope so."
---
Riley
The conference ended at nine-thirty – an hour and a half after it was supposed to. I was fidgeting the whole time, even through my speech, which earned me a few weird looks from the crowd (which basically consisted of a bunch of old historians). I kept thinking about Kathleen during the whole thing. I didn't hear a word of any other speech, and I couldn't help but be extremely distracted. I wasn't exactly stupid – I knew something was wrong, but she wanted me to go, so I went. I was probably stupid for listening to her. And I hadn't realized until the middle of Ben's speech that I left my cell phone in my car, (wow, real smooth move there) so I wouldn't have any idea if she called me or not.
At nine thirty, I was one of the first people to burst through the doors and run to my car, even though we were supposed to be the last ones to leave – maybe everything would be fine. All I had to do was check my messages. I turned on my phone, and nearly dropped it when it told me I had not one, not two, but now seven missed calls, all from Nicole's cellphone. I checked my voicemail and played the first one. I only needed to hear half of it before I nearly screamed a loud curse and dropped my phone on the pavement outside the conference hall. I ran back into the hall and grabbed my coat, knocking over a few chairs and tripping over one guy's foot in the process. Ben and Abigail were both looking at me strangely.
Abigail could only manage "Riley, what's wr-" before I answered her, probably looking like I'd just escaped from some sort of asylum.
"Kathleen's in labor, I gotta go!" And then I ran, probably the fastest I'd ever run since high school when my mom made me join the track team (not my best experience, by the way) I actually would've jumped into the car but I had the top up, so I just threw open the car door, got on, and sped down the road. It's honestly a wonder I didn't get pulled over, but I wasn't really thinking about that. I was more thinking 'OH MY GOD' over and over again.
I made it to the hospital by about ten, and after demanding of a nurse to tell me where Kathleen was, (she looked pretty scared) I ran through the hall and located her room. I took a deep breath, trying not to throw up all over myself from panic, and opened the door. She was lying in the bed with her back to the door, apparently in the middle of a contraction because of how she was breathing. A nurse was doing something and Nicole was sitting in a chair. She looked at me, sort of glaring.
"It's about damn time!" She scolded. "We've been here almost four hours already."
"I know, I know!" I rolled my eyes setting my coat and laptop bag down on one of the chairs before tentatively approaching Kathleen's beside. She was going to be mad, I knew it. I just had to prepare myself. She rolled over onto her back, releasing a deep breath. To be perfectly honest, she looked awful. She was a mess and looked totally exhausted and out of it. Of course, I couldn't exactly blame her.
"How are you doing?"
It seemed like an innocent enough question. But she gave me the meanest look that I'd ever seen in my whole life. I winced, prepared for the worst.
"HOW AM I DOING?? I'VE BEEN EXPERIENCING CHILDBIRTH FOR THE PAST FOUR HOURS AND YOU HAVE TO ASK HOW I'M DOING?!?!"
I sighed inwardly, trying to smile reassuringly. Fron where I stood, it was going to be a very long night.
---
Now it was midnight – and Kathleen was stuck at 8 centimeters. Nothing seemed to be happening, so they'd given her something for the pain so that she could sleep. Now she was laying in bed, sleeping peacefully enough. Nicole was reading some book, and I was sitting by the side of the bed, mostly doing a lot of thinking. I just kept looking at her, and feeling really… awful, I guess. I wasn't sure that either of us was ready for this, and I felt kind of bad for putting her through all this.
"I really didn't mean for this to happen…" I rubbed at my eyes, and Nicole looked up from her book, looking somewhat annoyed.
"Well, that has a tendency to happen."
I sighed, nodding. "I guess it does." I had to agree. Nicole was sort of eyeing me. "…What?"
"You'd better take care of them both, you know that. If you don't, you can bet that I'll kick your ass without a moment's thought." I opened my mouth to reply, but she kept talking. " Because that's my best friend and her kid. And if anything happens to them, it is my God-given duty to punish whoever happens to be responsible."
"I get it." I half-snapped, suddenly very tired and very annoyed. "It wasn't supposed to happen this way. I was stupid, and now this is happening."
"Well, it's a bit late for second thoughts." Nicole said. I sort of glared at her, and her face actually softened a bit. She set down her book, looking straight at me. "Okay. I can't say I understand why, but Kathleen is happy with you. When we were gone, she wouldn't shut up with you. Even now, she's happy. So don't mope. Cheer up, dude. You two are a lot better together than I probably ever would've imagined. And besides, a baby can be a good thing if you want it to be."
"I guess…" I mumbled, shocked that I actually felt a little bit better. It was a random and strangely timed pep-talk, but it worked, believe it or not. I reached across, gently brushing a hair from Kathleen's face, and I think I actually smiled for the first time in hours. Maybe, just maybe, we would be okay after all.
---
Kathleen
At about 1:30 in the morning, I was up, and I was screaming. The doctor said that was a good thing. She said it meant the baby was ready. I was so relieved, but freaked out too. I'd heard stories – this wasn't supposed to be the most pleasant thing on Earth. After one last thank you and an encouraging smile, they politely asked Nicole to leave. She argued at first, but she eventually obliged. I waved good-bye, nervous as all hell. Riley was holding my hand and murmuring reassurances, but he was so pale he was practically transparent.
Finally, it was time to start. I was scared, and I honestly don't remember much but being in a lot of pain and the doctor constantly urging me to push, which I did. She announced that she could see the head, and she asked Riley if he wanted to look, which was a bad idea. He apparently got freaked out, because the next thing I knew, I heard a muted thud. I was delivering his child, and Riley Poole was passed out on the floor beside me.
"Riley!" I pretty much screamed, incredibly upset and very annoyed. But a nurse started attending to him, and the doctor gently turned my attention back to the matter at hand. She demanded of me to push again, and I did with all the strength I could possibly muster.
And then it was finally over.
The first thing I heard was a garbled wail, and then the cries of a little baby. The doctor lifted up the baby – my baby- for me to see, and I very nearly burst into tears.
"It's a boy!" The doctor announced with a smile, laying the wet fussing little thing on a towel on my chest. He was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in my life. He had a full head of dark hair, though I couldn't see his eyes because he was still crying his little lungs out, like he was incredibly ticked off. Even so, I smiled, carefully stroking his head with one finger. My arms cradled him instinctively, just a natural reaction. I very gently rocked him and murmured to him, trying to quiet him. One of the nurses took him for a moment to clean him off and wrap him up and weigh him and all the stuff they do when babies are born. In the meantime, Riley apparently came to, because I heard some indistinct muttering, and Riley asking what happened. I just sort of looked at him.
"I missed it?" He asked, sounding kind of annoyed. I nodded. I would've cried, but the nurse handed the baby back to me. He was finally quiet, but his eyes were still closed. Riley looked down at the baby and stared, his mouth hanging open.
"This is our son." I half-smiled at the wondrous look in Riley's eyes. He sort of knelt down, still looking at the baby.
"Wow." Riley finally managed. "Our… son? We have a boy?"
"Yeah." I nodded, smiling, though my eyes misted over. It was just a huge mix of emotions. I didn't know what to do, what to say. All I wanted was to hold my perfect little baby boy – it was so strange to think that little thing was all mine, mine and Riley's. But he was, and it was amazing.
---
The next afternoon, we had a few visitors. I was exhausted as all hell and slept until noon. And then I ate because I was hungry. Nicole stayed over at the hospital even though I told her she could go home and sleep. I don't think either her or Riley slept a wink all through the night. Before I fell asleep I got to see Riley holding the baby for the first time – now that was a sight I'll probably never forget. For the past nine months, Riley had done nothing but worry and kick himself over it, but the moment he held the baby, he got a huge smile on his face. It was like falling in love all over again. I knew the feeling.
Anyway, Ben and Abigail came by, and Riley's mother came by to see us too. Abigail was all over me and the baby, gushing in the way she had the whole time. I just smiled and nodded at all the appropriate moments and thanked her. Ben sort of stood back and kept his distance, but he talked to Riley for a while and it was actually a really nice day. But when Riley's mom came by, we managed to get everyone in the room together and we finally told them the baby's name.
"Nicholas David." I declared with a little smile. "Nicholas for Nicole, of course, and a nod to Ben too. And David for Riley's father." Everyone around the room sort of awed and Nicole hugged me (which is a very rare thing, as you probably know already).
I took baby Nicholas – I decided then and there I'd call him Nicky - in my arms and smiled at him. His eyes were finally open – they were blue, of course, but more like Riley's than mine. I kissed his forehead and smiled broadly.
"Nicholas Poole." Abigail smiled. "It's a good name."
And I nodded. "Yes. It's perfect."
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Sorry again for the crazy long delay! I love you all, please don't hate me! And the next update REALLY WILL come soon, I'll make it happen if I have to beat myself over the head to get it done!
And reviews are appreciated, of course…
